Gretchen Cowart to run for St. Tammany Parish assessor

Pledging to eliminate "extravagant'' spending and special treatment for "favorites," Gretchen Cowart has announced she is seeking the office of St. Tammany Parish assessor. The election is Oct. 22.

Gretchen Cowart, running for assessor

Cowart, 39, of Bush, said she would also initiate term limits for the assessor's post and work to evenly assess parish properties.

"I believe that our property taxes can be lowered by fair assessment for all properties," she said in a news release.

A Covington High School graduate, Cowart is an alumna of Delgado Community College and Sullivan Vocational Technical Institute. She said she is a "career woman" and has worked for 10 years in the land records department at the parish Clerk of Court's Office.

Cowart, a Republican, said she will never be a career politician and thinks she can make a difference in the Assessor's Office. She said the office needs to be run with "the practical approach of fairness, honesty, transparency and business ethics."

She and her husband, Brian, have six children.

She said she has coached youth and adult sports for 12 years for the parish's 2nd Recreation District and is active in her children's school and the Future Farmers of America.